Reading FC plotting late deal for Coventry City player | OneFootball

The Royals are weighing up a loan move for Sky Blues forward Fabio Tavares.

That's according to Football Insider, in what would be a big addition to Ruben Selles' striking options.

The Royals haven't been able to add to their forward ranks so far this summer, and after falling down the pecking order at Coventry City, Tavares could be the reinforcement Selles has been searching for in his goalscoring department.

Tavares, 23, has only made one competitive appearance for the Sky Blues so far this season, as the arrivals of Brandon Thomas-Asante and Norman Bassette have placed a sizeable roadblock to regular minutes for the former Rochdale striker, and could now be set for a loan move away.

Revealed by Football Insider on Friday morning, Reading are understood to be making attempts to secure a loan deal for the Coventry forward.

With the versatile attacker now firmly on the fringes of Mark Robins' side, the Royals appear to have spotted an opportunity to bolster their forward line.

Tavares is only contracted with the Sky Blues until the end of the season, and finding him a temporary exit could allow the player the opportunity to make Coventry's minds up for them in regards to a new deal with his performances.

This new report will only further add to the confusion amongst Reading fans as to whether their club is able to sign Tavares, with the club being under a transfer embargo, and Selles' comments following the sale of Femi Azeez to Millwall would suggest they can't.

In a recent interview via RDG.Today, Selles said: "I got assured that if I let Femi go, and it was my decision also, then we could have a replacement immediately.

“It was a misunderstanding with the people communicating with the EFL and that was not effectively true. That happened and now we cannot use that money, even if it is a free player.

“It’s not an EFL problem, it’s an internal problem. Somebody misunderstood the information, that’s why I’m not happy with that. The reality is that if it (the takeover) happens before the transfer window closes then we need to see if we can make something effective.

“Or if it happens after then we need to see if there are free agents we can sign outside of the transfer window or we need to wait until January and keep pushing everyone together.”

Royals should complete Tavares deal if possible

If Reading do enter a position in which they can make signings today, then adding a player who bagged an assist in an FA Cup semi-final a matter of months ago would present as an impressive piece of business.

Still only 23, Tavares has plenty of time and room for growth, but in a senior career that hasn't seen him make more than 21 competitive appearances in an individual season, - that was incidentally his first season as a professional with Rochdale in 2019/20 - regular minutes is perhaps the key to unlocking his potential.

The young forward tends to operate from the right flank, and as such, would surely be seen as the replacement for Azeez.

Tavares flashed his creative ability last season when given the opportunity, registering three goals and two assists in 10 appearances across all competitions.